


Hard Lines

by MWolfe13



Series: MMFBingo2019 [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M, Legilimens, MMFBingo2019, mind magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22790584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MWolfe13/pseuds/MWolfe13
Summary: Crossing lines are never easy; on the person doing it and the people close to them.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Sam Wilson (Marvel)
Series: MMFBingo2019 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1462696
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17
Collections: Marvelously Magical Bingo 2019





	Hard Lines

**Author's Note:**

> Written for MMF Bingo 2019!  
> Square: I1- Sam Wilson/Hermione Granger
> 
> ALSO Square G5- Legilimens of my MMFBingo2018 card, because I'm determined to finish that in my nonexistent spare time even though the event is over.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Marvel! I'm just playing in one of my favorite sandboxes.

There was a scream, high pitched and terrified, and then the sound of incoherent sobbing. 

Hermione shared a grim look with Steve and Nat. They’d been too late to save the women being held against their will, the hostages taken away before they’d even raided this hideout. This woman was the only ‘survivor’, left for dead or simply forgotten about in their rush to flee before SHIELD got there. Computers had been wiped, files destroyed, and there had been no clue left behind that could point them in the right direction. Nat thought they’d been forewarned. Hermione was inclined to agree. 

Their current problem was the only person who might be able to give them the answers they needed. Her fiance was in there with the woman now, trying to coax details out of her with his calm, gentle way. From the sounds coming out of the room, she was too traumatized to be of any help. Hermione felt for her, but she truly believed that if they couldn’t get anywhere then they needed to leave her to the medical professionals and be on their way. Steve had already given the order to go dark, leaving the potential mole out of further communications. That command now made the mission time-sensitive.

The woman gave another hysterical wail, and Hermione closed her eyes. Damn it. She knew what she needed to do. Nat and Steve knew as well because when she opened her eyes, Nat was staring at her in sympathy, and Steve looked resigned.

Hermione absolutely hated mind magic. Ever since the incident with her parents, performing any invasive mind magic left a bad taste in her mouth. But she knew her job, and nothing would happen to the woman to hurt her in truth. Now was the best time while she was still reliving the horrors of her time here.

Nodding to the two of them, she braced herself before walking into the room. Sam noticed her right away, but his focus stayed on the woman he was speaking softly to. She looked like she’d gone through hell; torn clothing, bruises, and cuts littered her body, her hair was hacked boy short. Hermione had to control the quick burst of anger she felt for this woman, putting up a calm and sympathetic mask on her face. She approached slowly, knowing a fast advance would send the woman into a panic.

Sam sent her a questioning glance, but she ignored him. She smiled at the woman looking at her with wide eyes. “Hi, my name is Hermione Granger. What’s yours?” When the woman didn’t answer, she nodded. “That’s alright. I don’t have to know your name, but can you do me a favor? I need you to look into my eyes.”

“Your eyes?” The words were raspy, a consequence of her previous screaming. Her gaze was wild; any sudden upset would set her off.

Sam was scowling now, but he had a hand to the small communications device in his ear. He was shaking his head, but he didn’t say anything, his mouth pressed in a grim line. Hermione knew before she did it that she was crossing a line for him, but it had to be done. She kept the woman in a trance as she gently searched through the memories at the forefront of her mind. When Hermione had all she needed, she wandlessly put her to sleep.

She sighed, “We do have a mole, and we have to move now. He’ll have gotten the blackout order as soon as it was given.”

Sam bent down and picked up the sleeping woman. “I’ll stay with her. You guys go on ahead.”

“Sam…”

He shook his head. “Not now, Hermione. We’ll talk when this is over.”

“There wasn’t a choice. We needed that information.” Hermione tugged at a curl that had fallen from her bun. “I didn’t hurt her.”

Sam didn’t respond, and Hermione eventually left.

* * *

  


**She** was tired. Their mission had extended three more days, the operation more extensive than they’d realized. Even Nat had been forced to give up the controls to Steve so that she could curl up on a seat in the Quinjet. She envied the super-soldier his stamina. Hermione knew she wouldn’t be able to go to sleep until she’d settled things with Sam. His obvious distaste at her actions unsettled her.

Hermione hated it, but sometimes it was  _ necessary _ . They’d saved thirty other women and a dozen children, because of the information she’d accessed through Legilimency. They’d known exactly who the traitor was, and he’d been arrested before he could bolt. She knew,  _ without a doubt _ , things would’ve been different if they’d waited for their survivor to be ready to talk.

The Quinjet landed, Hermione quickly making her way to her room with a murmured goodbye. The sooner she showered, the sooner she could track down Sam.

He was waiting in her room, sitting on the edge of the bed. She stopped in her tracks, surprised, but she knew she shouldn’t have been. He wasn’t the type of person to leave things when they were bothering him. He was bothered. He’d checked in with Steve over the last few days, but he’d never once asked to talk to her like he normally would.

The shower would have to wait.

Hermione made her way over to him, giving him a small smile as she sat down by her pillows. “Hey.”

Sam didn’t smile back. “Hey.”

They stayed silent. Hermione pulled one of the pillows over her stomach, folding her arms over it and hugging it close. She sighed, “Sam…”

“I love you.”

Her shoulders sagged. “I love you too.”

“I think we both know what was done to her wasn’t right.” Sam moved closer to her. “Invading her mind like that… It was a breach in privacy, Hermione.”

She hugged the pillow tighter. “I know that, Sam. You  _ know _ how I feel about things like that.”

“Yet you were willing to compromise that moral ground for the mission.”

“It was necessary,” Hermione said for both of them. “Sam, we were getting nowhere. Someone was leaking information! All the people we saved would have been lost if I hadn’t used the spell.”

Sam shook his head. “It isn’t right. Something could have gone wrong. You didn’t even ask her for permission.”

Suddenly Hermione was mad. She pushed off the bed, the pillow falling to the floor. “We didn’t have that kind of time! Sam, there was no other way. By the time we’d have calmed her down enough to listen to us and for me to explain how the spell works… Not only would I have had to Obliviate her, we would have lost precious time. I didn’t  _ want _ to go that route, but we saved enough lives today for me to feel too guilty for it.”

He grabbed for her hands, standing when she refused to let him take them. He settled for her shoulders, giving her a small shake as he shook his head. “Do you hear yourself? Now you’re talking about erasing her memory. You swore you’d never use that spell again.”

She jerked away. “I know that! But that’s what would have had to happen. If I didn’t do it, someone else would.” She ran a frustrated hand over her messy hair. “How did we even get on this topic? I didn’t have to Obliviate anyone.”

“It’s all the same, though.” Sam paced away from her. “These things bother you, but you’d do it in a heartbeat for the mission. Since when did the end justify the means for you? Isn’t that what you hated about the side you fought on for your war? That the leaders seemed to be willing to do anything to win?”

Merlin take him. That wasn’t fair! “It’s not the same,” she insisted. “You don’t get to use that against me. Isn’t it enough that I feel  _ terrible _ about it?”

“No.” Sam shook his head. “You can’t feel too terrible if you’re still willing to do it.”

Hermione deflated, her heart hurting at how final he sounded. There would be no swaying him, and she wasn’t sure where this left them. “I’m not sure what you want me to tell you then.”

He walked back to her, attempting to take her hands a second time. She let him, looking him in the eyes, trying to get some sense of what he was feeling. She didn’t like the resolve she saw there. He rubbed the finger where her engagement ring should be, usually put back on when she’d cleaned up after a mission. “You can tell me you won’t use that type of magic again,” Sam said. “You can promise you won’t let anyone pressure you into doing it.”

That was impossible. Hermione couldn’t believe he was asking this of her. She ripped her hands from his, turning away from him. “You know I can’t do that, Sam. I stand by what I did. I may not like it, but it was necessary. It was for the-”

She stopped herself right there, closing her eyes in disbelief of the words that had almost left her mouth.

The door slammed a moment later. He’d never done that before, walked out on an argument. The closing door sounded so final, nothing left to be said. Hermione wrapped her arms around herself, letting the tears roll down her face as she backed up against the wall and slid to the floor. 


End file.
